Well I've had a busy few weekends so haven't been blogging - but have been having great fun !
2 weekends ago Much Beloved & I had an action packed weekend away including trips to historic Winchester & Bath, MB's nephew's 18th Birthday Party and a Vietnamese Cooking lesson !
Winchester was charming - and the weather was just a perfect Indian
Summer's Day so we got to see the historic city at it's best !
History and shopping - a wonderful combination !
Rich's
nephew had a family "do" to celebrate his 18th and as his Dad is 60
tomorrow they celebrated what they billed as a "78th" Birthday party !
On the Sunday we moved on down to Bath where we went to see the renovations at Dyrham Park - as well as seeing some amazing fallow Deer in full antlers !
The National Trust have erected an enormous cathedral like structure of scaffolding & plastic over the entire house and a lift took us up to a walkway round the whole of the roof so we were looking down into the roof repairs - it was amazing to see a perspective you would never imagine seeing normally !
They even facilitated wheelchair access so rich could see everything too !
You can see we had to don Hi-Vis vests to make the trip !
Bath is a lovely city which dates back to Roman times.
We enjoyed the sights & shopping by day and then enjoyed a brilliant Thai meal at one of our favourite restaurants - on the way back to the hotel we went back to see the Abbey & around the Roman Baths by moonlight as it was a Full Moon - so atmospheric & peaceful with all the tourists long gone.
The Monday was my birthday & spending it at work seemed a gloomy prospect so we took a day off & Rich had organised for us to have a lesson from a Vietnamese Chef who runs classes from her home in Bath.
We had a fun & wildly aromatic day learning about all the spices & herbs they use - and made up several recipes which we'll definitely be trying again at home !
I love a lot of South East Asian food so really enjoyed learning techniques & food pairing tricks - yummy !
This weekend we welcomed our friends Chris & Mary from Manchester to stay.
On Saturday the weather held out & we were able to show off our stunning sandy beaches then enjoy a companionable meal at our favourite local restaurant.
We aren't Welsh speaking ourselves but could resist getting them a Welsh souvenir from the ladies who run a shabby chic stall at the local market.
On Sunday after a morning walk in the Mumbles, including the Lifeboat House, the menfolk went to football.
So Mary & I got painty & gluey decorating letters to spell our her new grand-daughter's name.
As Iris means Rainbow we chose colours of the rainbow & added embellishments in the Finnabar style.
We were pretty pleased with them at the end - so we thought why not celebrated with a glass of something bubbly !
I am working in Germany at the massive Food Trade Fair from Friday to late Tuesday so won't catch you next week - take care ! Love Ali x
And to give myself a break in block piecing, I got the other 23 advent stockings finished too !
